A recent decision by the US DC court of appeal confirmed that foreign satellite companies must now pay US regulatory fees. This decision changed the decades long practice of waiving fees for international companies. The rule was fought in court by several companies led by Canadian Telesat, to no avail.
From now on, foreign satellite companies must pay yearly fees from $300.000 for smallsats (Kineis, Hiber…) to $1.000.000 for large operators like Eutelsat or Telesat. Surprisingly, Inmarsat would pay only $400.000…
This decision is a clear barrier to enter the US market, especially for small emerging companies in the field of satellite IoT that have no market today and will live on reduced ARPU and small margins. And clearly, it favors large established companies such as Inmarsat that have an already existing customer base that is locked in.
More on this decision from courthousenews.